Yeah -- they are considering filing charges against him for negligence for allowing his wife to remain near his kids. I think its a bit sketchy, because her own psychiatrist apparently took her off medication didn't foresee a safety issue for the kids -- it's a little unreasonable to expect him to do so when the medical experts did not.
I agree, Major...but at the same time I heard a story today on CNN about a woman who was convicted for leaving her baby with her boyfriend who subsequently beat the baby to death.
You'd think Mr. Yates would have noticed something wasn't "fine" if she would go for weeks at a time without talking to anybody. Or if she'd get more and more depressed every time she had a kid, yet he would make her have more. I think this is more a case of denial... trying to convince himself that surely his wife wasn't all that bad off. And, yes, it is negligent. Because he left the kids alone with her. I'm sure nobody thought there was a risk of her physically harming the kids, but everybody did know she was mental and no telling what she was capable of. Besides, is it really emotionally healthy for your kids to be raised by a mother who's not able to function?
Was that instance the only instance of violence in regard to the boyfriend? Or was there a history of violence so that a reasonable person would know better than to leave her baby with the boyfriend? I'm not sure that Mr. Yates should be held responsible in a legal way. While there were certainly signs that Mrs. Yates was seriously disturbed, I don't know that there was any reason to believe she would eventually harm their kids. There always tend to be signs that something is wrong that people should see or do see before there sorts of instances occur, but the event itself probably couldn't have been forseen.... at least I don't think so based on the information I've seen and heard. And that's the legal standard as I understand it.
hm he's more the cause than ppl think She became suicidal and was hearing voices after she had i think her 3rd baby (in her 30's)... I'm quite sure her first psych informed the husband of this but they continued to have as many as God would allow You can't tell me a woman who rubs her head bald and doesn't say anything to anyone for weeks at a time is a fit parent. The doctor may not have known this but the husband sure as hell did. He deserves the death penalty about as much as she does. At least he had some grip on reality.
mrpaige -- honestly, i don't know much of the details..i assume she must have known he was a risk to the kids...i saw the story in text crawling at the bottom of the screen..not enough detail. I'm not sure he should be held legally responsible either, but for different reasons. I think he definitely could be. He brought his mother to town to be there all day with the kids and Andrea because he knew it was risky to leave them there with her...he knew it, but he left anyway. That is nearly a textbook definition. But I think prosecutorial discretion should win out here. The man is facing a life without the family he loved...he is living in the home where his children struggled with their mother for their own lives while being submerged in water. That's punishment enough, I think, for him.
